All's Well That Ends Well.

 Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

We were very worried about Cyril last night because he could not walk on his right paw and it seemed to be giving him a lot of problems.

Richie called the vets as soon as he could this morning and they gave an appointment for 1200.

Before he left he got me my laptop so I was all set to look at my e-mail, open my blog and write today's blog post.

Just as I opened my e-mail program the laptop screen became black and shortly after the power went off.

I waited for a minute and tried to restart the laptop sadly without success, I tried it several times, then several more times before deciding to stop.

What amazed me was how calm I was about this happening, I think I realised that was little point in getting all worked up and upset when it seemed I could not remedy the situation.

The idea that my laptop was dead is not a nice thought however I decided I would just have to get on and really make an effort to learn how to use the Seetech computer.

I think learning how to use Seetech is not going to be difficult as I thought it would be, last night I decided that I was no longer scared but saw it as a challenge.

It is good that I thought that last night because it made it easier for me when I thought my laptop died, which it hasn't.

As I found out when Richie got back from the vets with Cyril, apparently Richie had forgotten to plug the laptop in to the electricity supply.

That explains everything and now I'm sitting here writing this on my laptop, Richie also reassure me about Cyril.

Apparently he has an infection in one toe which makes walking very painful for the poor little dog; he is now on antibiotics as well as painkillers.

He should get better in a few days so all is well Cyril as well is with my laptop, and all is well with the weather too, it is a beautiful sunny day temperatures of 20° and perhaps higher temperatures mid-afternoon.

It would be great if it got warm enough to use air conditioning which was installed last week on 9^th and 10^th of October.

Happy Days.

Roberto Matta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Suddenly there was a lot of activity as Richie is very busy with vacuuming the apartment prior to Richie's sister Aud arriving to stay with us.

I hope she will have a pleasant relaxing time here with us and our three lovely dogs, which I'm sure, will be delighted to see her, someone else to play with them.

Cyril will be delirious with excitement at seeing Aud again; he was smitten with her when she visited us last November.

Then she was only here for three days and this time she will be here for nearly 11 days, which is brilliant as three days are over much too quickly.

Even 11 days will be over before we know, and it will be 6th of October but that is not something I'm going to concentrate on now.

Right now I'm just looking forward to seeing Aud and hearing her news as well as seeing how Cyril will react.

Seeing Aud in November gave the little dog a huge boost and he was very cheerful and a lot more confident in the weeks afterwards.

Since we got Tina not long after Aud's last visit she also has had a really positive effect on Cyril, who is a more relaxed and confident dog.

I'm hoping that seeing Aud will have a positive effect on him, we are hoping that Cyril will be even more relaxed.

Happy Memories.

 Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Today is another unpredictable day, 1 minute it looks pleasant, the very next there is torrential rain, it is just like April and not like August.                                                         

Global warming is really starting to have an impact now, as all our seasons are turned around, summer in spring and autumn in the summer.

Again I slept really well last night; I even managed to sleep through until midday today, something I have not done in years.

That means that I'm late going to the shower, toilet but no worries as it is nice to have a lazy day on Sunday.

It reminds me of Sundays before I had MS, when I loved a lazy morning, lying in bed, drinking tea smoking joints and talking to Richie.

Pleasant memories of happy days, we had at that time a lovely Staffordshire terrier cross called Daisy.

She liked joining us in the bedroom; she would on command get her bed as well as her blanket, the bed she would put by the radiator and the blanket in bed for her to snuggle under.

Daisy was very clever like that; she also knew how to put her toys away at the end of the day which no other dog we have had since can't do.

Our trio of beautiful dogs, Marleen, Cyril and Tina get on very well together and make a wonderful happy pack.

What is really brilliant is seeing how happy and confident Cyril has become; his confidence has grown tremendously since the beginning of the year.

Finally he has been able to be a dog, something it seems he was not allowed to do in his old home, horrible to think of an active dog like Cyril being deprived of exercise.

 I'm so glad we took him in January 2011; it has been quite a challenge trying to win his trust, now one year and seven months later we have a lovely dog.

Re-homing dogs is very worthwhile thing to do especially because it means avoiding buying dogs from puppy farms, something we do not agree with. 

Finally the rain has stopped and the weather has improved, at precisely 20.00 this evening the sun came out and the sky is blue now.

Richie is making us a delicious dinner which I am looking forward to, after we have eaten or look for artwork and put this on my blog, happy days.

Puppy Fun.

Enrique Tabara.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_T%C3%A1bara

It’s been a week full of puppy fun, Tina has been a wonderful addition, Marleen and Cyril are noticeably happier since she got here.

Her coming to live here has rejuvenated both dogs; they are playing much more exuberantly than before she arrived.

The other thing that is wonderful is how well the dogs are getting on, Marleen was good right away, and the two of them slept together on the second night, Cyril got worried but soon bounced back.

Especially when on the third day, Cyril found out that playing in the park with her was great fun, better then before her arrival.

On Thursday, it was just one week, but it feels almost like Tina has been here much longer, so well do the dogs get on, it really is good to see.

We did have three dogs until one, our Daisy died in June 2006, just before my ms diagnosis, which shocked us; then we had other things on our minds than getting a new dog.

When our lovely dog, Spike died last December, we decided to give another dog a new home, Cyril joined us in January, happily Marleen and Cyril got on very well.

We recently decided to look for another dog to join our two darlings. It took several months, and then last week there finally was just Th dog we were looking for, tine

Three dogs seems to work very well for dogs, makes them very happy, dogs prefer to live in packs, so our three dogs are happy with their pack.

Puppy Love.

 

Daniel van Nes.

http://www.nessed.nl/

Today I woke up in quite a lot of pain, because my body had moved alot during sleep, so much in fact that it had got twisted up.

No wonder I cried, instantly Tina was by my bed, trying to comfort me by licking my hands, what a sweet little puppy she is, we are both happy we found her.

Its day three with our lovely new dog Tina, she is fitting in so well, seems funny that she has only been here for a few days.

Richie told me that today in the park the dogs were all playing together like old friends; he said they were a happy pack.

That’s brilliant news, good to hear they had such fun in the park, playing with a puppy brought out the puppies in Marleen and Cyril.

Richie said he had not seen Marleen and Cyril playing so much at such high speed as this afternoon, apparently it was a wonderful sight, three dogs having fun.

The dogs are doing very well getting on with each other, its nice to see them working it out between them, we supervise but don't intervene unnecessarily.

Cyril because of his previous bad experiences at his old home is a more worried dog, he is the only one who every now and again, gets anxious and starts to protect his toys.

But he is also starting to like Tina, getting her to play tug with him, I think they will all be fine together; they will soon be a fine pack.

More About Tina.

 

Laurie Lipton.

http://www.laurielipton.com/bio/

Day two with Tina, she is a delightful little dog, even though its early days, yet already the three dogs seem to be working things out between them.

Marleen has let Tina know she is the top dog, Cyril had a wobble yesterday, he got worried and insecure, but a visit to the pet shop for tripe, dry tripe chews as well as new toys soon cheered him up.

This morning Richie got up early, to take the dogs to the park, when they returned Marleen, Cyril and Tina were very happy dogs.

They ran around jumping into dog beds, and then back out again, all at top speed, almost like whirling dervishes, they kept this up for more than 30 minutes

Tina had to be introduced to dog beds, yesterday she immediately wanted to sit on the sofa and chew her smelly tripe chew, she didn’t understand, she does today.

The next thing is to get her totally house trained, at the moment she has not made the connection between going out to the dog toilet and peeing or pooling.

This afternoon she came back from the dog toilet and had a pee, then a poo under the table in the front room.

I am sure Richie will be able to help Tina make the connection soon, she is a clever wee dog, will soon be house trained.

The good news is Tina likes us all, she has started to defend the house by barking at potential intruders, I am so happy she has made her mind up that this is her new home.

Tina, Our New Dog.

Tina.

Today is an exciting day, Richie went off to the local pound to meet our new dog, on Monday evening I spotted her on the website.

I sent an e-mail requesting that they reserve Tina for us, the next day someone from the pound rang and we chatted about Tina.

They said they couldn’t reserve her; however they suggested we visit with our dogs to see if the three dogs hit it off together, Richie was busy until Thursday.

I phoned yesterday t 15.3 to see if Tina was still there, luckily she was so I arranged that Richie would go there this morning with Marleen and Cyril  

It was difficult for me waiting to hear what happened, whether it went alright, did we have a new dog or not.

Richie left at 09.30 and returned at 13.00 with three dogs, so now we have three lovely dogs, Tina is a sweet playful dog, and the three of them are alright together.

Lovely to see them all together,working it out between them, for now it’s already good between them, so that means it can only get better.

Once they go to the park and start playing together they will have even more fun together, which will help them start to bond and become a pack.

I am very happy that we have finally have found our third dog, she seems to be a good addition to our lovely Marleen and Cyril, so now we have a trio of beautiful dogs.

Wish I Could Stop It.

 
The Juggler, 1931.
Pavel Tchelitchew.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Tchelitchew

Today has been a quiet dreamy day, it is much colder as autumn is becoming winter, and we have had the heating on several times already in the morning, that’s how cold it is today.

We have both noticed that Aud has had a very good effect on Cyril, who seems happier today, he is more confident after getting so much attention from Aud.

Today because he enjoyed playing with Aud for 3 days, he is very playful and has been demanding games as well as lots of cuddles from Richie, nice to see Cyril so relaxed.

Ten months ago, on 5th January Cyril was brought home by Richie, then he had virtually no muscles, he only weighted just 4 kg, now he weighs 7 ¾ kg and has muscles, glad we could give him a new home..

I am looking forward to Cyril getting even more confident and happy, apparently it takes one year for a dog to get used to a new home, and I wonder how he will be in January 2012.

What will I be like in January 2012, right now my arms are getting extremely painful, they feel so heavy, I never thought how heavy they would feel as it becomes more difficult to move. .

I know that I have been good recently at not spending valuable time speculating about the future, but when I became aware of my arms becoming heavy it got me thinking.

As I have no answers I decided to stop thinking about what will happen next, I prefer not to do that as I don’t want to get myself upset, maybe even depressed.

I would love to pretend nothing was happening, that is not possible as I am all too aware that my body is slowly shutting down, weird to be recording this happening, wish I could stop it.

Getting Happy Again.

 

Clovis Trouille.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Trouille

Strange feeling waking up and not moving, takes awhile before my left arm can even start to move, moving my left arm involves the right arm too, as if they are connected.

Moving my left arm to extract it from under the blanket, results in my arm getting briefly cramped up and the fingers painfully twisted together.

At the same time my right arm is folded tightly on my chest, my hand is in a tight fist, difficult to open, best not to do so before Richie has massaged my arms and shoulder.

Massaging helps to relax my shoulder, my elbow and eventually my hand too, then I can start to do my arm exercises which directly allow me to use my hands.

I think that the massage as well as doing my arm exercises has extended my arm/hand/finger function considerably, I am convinced about that.

As soon as massaging starts to be effective, then my fingers can be gently opened and I can finally reach out and grasp the handle above my bed.

This enables me to do my exercises, as soon as they are done, I can feel that my muscles were stretched out again.

I am now able to type and to write this post, which makes me very happy, Cyril is also happy today because marleen is here.

As soon as Richie brought Marleen home from the vet, Cyril got very happy again, it was sweet seeing him so sad because she was not here, we will know the result in a week

Forget About Tomorrow

 
Remembrance, 1931.
Clovis Trouille.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Trouille

We are having a lovely week of sunshine this week, which is a wonderful surprise after a pretty dismal cool, rainy summer.

Lovely to get some pleasant weather at the end of September before it gets much colder and winter sets in.

I woke up suddenly this morning from deep sleep, no sure why I woke, maybe it was because I wanted to see Marleen before Richie took her to the vet for an operation.

Marleen has a tiny lump on her neck that needs to be nipped off; hopefully it will just be that, and nothing else.

It’s always worrying, until the call comes that tells us everything is fine, then we can totally relax.

Poor Cyril is miserable without Marleen, and now Richie has gone off to his driving lesson he in inconsolable, not even interested in the peanuts I dropped on the floor.

Funny, if Marleen were here he would be very competitive, but not on his own, he has just cried on his way to bed, where he is lying very miserable.

I have been quite introspective recently, not surprising given my situation, sometimes I need reminding that I am extremely ill.

The other reminder is that I need to focus on what I have, I need to be constantly reminded to forget about tomorrow, enjoy today.

Painful Sunday.

Don VanVliet.
Don Van Vliet was known as Captain Beefheart during his days as a rock musician and later led a reclusive life as a painter. Van Vliet died Friday 17 Decembe2r 2010,n from complications of multiple sclerosis in Northern California. He was 69. Captain Beefheart’s music career, which stretched from 1966 to 1982, featured a surreal mixture of rock, primitive blues, free-form jazz and avant-garde poetry. In the 1980s, Van Vliet turned full time to art, painting in a raw, expressionistic style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Beefheart

This morning I woke too early, because it was so cold and the duvet had slipped off my shoulders.

Trying to get myself back under the duvet was impossible, so as I thought I had heard Richie moving around I asked him to cover me up.

He told me he would do his best, but could not walk; his feet were so painful, but somehow he got out of bed, he came over on his knees to cover me up.

Amazingly once I got warm again I slept, it was three hours later when I woke once more.

As soon as I did I instantly recalled, that my darling’s feet were so painful, he could not walk.

Hearing him talk softly to Cyril, I called to him, he responded immediately, telling me his feet were incredibly painful.

It happens at night when the damage done to the skin dries, so putting his weight on them in the morning is horribly painful, today was the worse day.

Just as I was wondering how we would manage if Richie could not walk, my brave darling crawled into the bathroom and soaked his feet and then put cream on them.

This helped him and just when I was starting to panic, Richie hobbled into the room, I was so happy to see him standing up.

He was till in lots of pain but could move around, Richie reassured me his feet were getting better, but it would take another couple of weeks for it to heal.

Horrible seeing Richie in such pain, I hope his pain goes soon and his feet heal so we can get out together and enjoy the nice weather.

A Sunny Friday In April.

The Pond.
Peter Purves Smith.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Purves_Smith

Beautiful sunny Friday, just the start of the afternoon now and I hope it is getting warmer too.

Should be 23 degrees tomorrow and Sunday which if true will be nice to go out in.

Looking forward to going out over this weekend and feel the sun on my face, which will be so good to feel.

Especially as my skin has got dry, flaky from lack of sun and air on my face, the sun this weekend should help me lots.

Before I have a shower I want to find a green rubber duck for Cyril, as his favourite toy is pretty much wrecked now.

I shall also look for tie dye t –shirts for myself and black trousers for Richie, hope I find a green duck for Cyril as he sleeps with it.

The duck is his security blanket, he gets it before he jumps up on Richie’s bed, and he won’t go until he finds it.

Looking forward to getting my finery on and being out in the sunshine with my darling Richie.

He has gone off to do the shopping now, so we can enjoy going out tomorrow just for fun, I can hardly wait for tomorrow.

  

Sunny March Sunday.

 

 Self Portrait.

Frida Kahlo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

Slept very well, so well I did not notice that Richie and the dogs got up at 0.7.00 and Richie took the dogs up to the Amsterdam woods,

The dogs had a great time as there were a lot of animals around, so lots of scents for Marleen and Cyril to follow happily.

They had a truly great time and were back home at 0.9.30, since when both dogs have been curled up on beds.

When Richie offered them a piece of my roti with chicken curry, they loved it and had no problems eating.

Immediately it was clear that was everything, they both seemed to switch off and resumed their sleep.

Right now we are watching football, it is a good game, and Liverpool is beating Manchester United.

Wonderng whether a good friend Keith, will be at the game, I am sure he will be there; it is Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0.

Today would be immensely improved if Liverpool were to win; I would love to see Manchester lose, especially to their close bitter rivals Liverpool.

A beautiful sunny day here, today, blue skies and sunshine all day, that is so lovely after the gloomy grey, misty day yesterday.

 

Cyril Getting Happy.

My Room Has Two Doors.
Kay Sage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Sage

Slept well last night, especially after organising the dog’s health insurance and e-mailing the dog tax people that we have another dog.

Cyril is coming along really well, he is starting to relax and trust us all more, next week Saturday it is two months since he got here.

After Richie rescued him twice once when he fell through the ice chasing ducks and the second swimming after ducks, Cyril sticks close to him these days.

Poor little dog has been constantly amazed that Richie has not killed him when he has made a mistake.

I am very happy we can reassure him that we do not treat dogs badly here; we prefer to build them up and enable them to enjoy being dogs.

With no worries in the world except having a happy life full of walks, games with Marleen and lots of affection from us.

Since Richie has been giving him extra food and regular exercise Cyril has put on weight and muscle too, which is good to see.

Nice to see him looking better than when he got here, when you could see every rib and backbone.

Now he is beginning to look like a very fit, healthy and happy dog, he is a sweet, relaxed dog and once his traumas fade away he will be very happy.

Staying Close.

The Fish's Tale.
Eileen Agar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Agar

Richie had a great time as well as a very scary time in the park with the dogs yesterday it was good until Richie wanted to come home.  

Instead do responding to Richie, Cyril ran off and decided to do some duck chasing instead and jumped in the cold pond.

The ducks led him a merry dance and after many laps of the pond Cyril became totally exhausted.

Richie says he saw him sagging deeper in the water as he got tired but despite calling him, he was still trying to get hold of a duck.

Then Cyril tried to swim back to the bank and got to about  1, 50 meters from the side when he got tangled in a floating branch.

At this point Richie waded out and rescued him, when he put Cyril on the ground, his back legs folded under him.

He had no strength left and laid, wet, cold and crying on the grass, two dog walkers came over with a big scarf to dry Cyril.

Richie put him in one of his bike bags wrapped in his jumper, Cyril cried all the way home, where he looked totally rattled.

Poor Cyril is staying close to Richie ever since.

Cyril Getting Happy.

 

Cyril and Marleen.

Both appointments went well yesterday, the first with Harm from Welzorg, who brought a colleague, Arjan to show alternative steering methods for wheelchairs.

Arjan showed me several; two were joystick operated, they needed less effort than the one I have now.

One was operated with a fingertip, then there was a chin operated one which seemed not much effort and lastly mouth control.

Then Beenhakker came to see the problems with the shower chair, they will provide different material for the cushion and fix it better onto the  chair.

What a shock when Harm announced this was his last visit, he was being moved against his will to another region.

Shame as I have seen him since 2006, in that time Harm has built up an understanding of my situation.

Cyril has started being less anxious since he got so worried last Saturday, that he bit Richie’s thumb, which seemed to depress him.

Then he started asking for cuddles and Sunday games too, since Monday it’s noticeable that Cyril is happier and less anxious.

Instead of getting worried he is running around and playing, there is no more scared growling; now this happens during games.

Excellent to see Cyril beginning to come out of his depression and bond with Richie and enjoy his new life.

Looking forward to seeing Cyril blossoming and becoming a relaxed happy and playful dog.

 

An incredible breakthrough

Pablo Picasso, Three Musicians (1921),
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso

Cyril is coming along very well; he seems to be coming out of his depression now, which is so very good to see.

Since last Saturday he has been able to play the tug game with Richie, which he became too scared to do.

First thing when Richie came back from the shop, with new toys for the dogs, Cyril was keen to play the tugging game.

But somehow he shocked himself by all the growling he was doing while holding onto the tug.

It worried him so much that he could not go on anymore; it also made him very nervous and worried about any contact.

In the evening he finally allowed Richie to stroke him ands enjoyed being cuddled, then Marleen demanded a game with her tug.

Cyril watched fascinated but very worried, when they were finished, he went over to the tug Marleen had discarded and sniffed it extensively.

Then he returned to his bed and crawled with a huge effort under his blanket, only to jump out again as soon as he was covered up.

He walked up to the tug, picked it up and walked straight up to Richie and thrust it at him and demanded a game.

An incredible breakthrough for a clever little dog, Cyril is a real sweet dog, we are looking forward to seeing him getting even fitter and happier  

Happy Dogs.

 
Cyril.

I am going to take it very easy today; I am starting to get better slowly from this very nasty influenza.

But I have to be extra careful right now that I do not overdo things, which is so easily done.

I also have new lenses in my spectacles which need getting used to, over a few days so as not to tire my eyes.

Richie is also recovering; he has just taken the dogs to the park, which news was greeted with happy barking from the dogs.

Marleen and Cyril are getting very friendly and enjoy each others company very much, which is lovely to see.

Cyril seems to like it here, he is putting on weight and muscle, and he likes his new routine and us and especially Marleen’s company.

So glad we took Cyril and have given him a new life, one that he seems to shave needed desperately.

Good to see him slowly coming out of his depression and getting happy here with us.

  

We have our good friends from Wales, Gareth and Paul visiting us later, they are in Amsterdam for a quick visit, looking forward to seeing them later this evening.

Cyril Is Getting Happier Everyday.

 
The Red Tower.
Giorgio de Chirico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_de_Chiricohttp

I meant to write about Cyril yesterday until the drama of the broken adaptor happened; by the time Richie came back I was pretty frazzled.

Glad I managed to maintain a calm exterior; inside I was anything but calm, inside I was extremely upset.

So pleased that I did not let rip and upset myself even more than I already was, there was no point at all in getting unnecessarily upset about something I could not influence in any way

I had wanted to post about Cyril, who is settling in very nicely, he seems to like us a lot already.

Following Richie everywhere, when I am in bed he is nearby, either under or next to my bed, he even dragged a dog blanket to the foot of my bed.

He loves getting up on my bed, in fact he jumped up three times not long after he got here on Wednesday.

Which was sweet, since then when he wants to be on my bed,  he stands looking at me and squeaking until Richie puts him up on my bed.

Cyril and Marleen are getting on well; they are starting to become buddies, Friday and yesterday they played together lots in the park.

They have also been running around in the house, and playing growling at each if the other comes near their special toy.

Both are very obviously enjoying the interaction with each other, so glad we have given Cyril a go.

He is a sweet, loving and very playful little dog, who really seems to like us, Marleen and his new routine.

Still can not believe that someone could have had this delightful little dog and not treated him well.

The long toenails indicate that he was never taken for a walk, certainly not for several years, he had Howard Hughes’s style toenails which were too long for him to walk well.

Amazing but seems there is a lot of this negligence mainly due to ignorance about what a dog needs.

On Thursday Cyril had this years injections, got chipped so if he gets lost we can find him, he had his nails clipped and Richie de-wormed and de-fleaed him at home.

So he is all set now to enjoy his new life with us, which seems to really agree with him, he is showing all the signs of getting happier everyday

.

A New Start And A New Name.

Cyril.

Yesterday was a very exhausting day we were both pretty relieved, me especially once the catheter problems had been resolved.

Just after I posted yesterdays blog post and was settling down to a relaxed evening when the phone rang.

It was Rebecca, a woman who I had been in touch with just after Spike died who wanted to find a new home for her Jack Russell.

When I first got in touch with Rebecca, we were just too late as the dog had been placed taken on a trial placement.

We were both disappointed as he looked a nice little dog, so I sent Rebecca a mail asking her to let me know if it did not work out.

I did have an e- mail on Monday telling me the trial placement was not working and wondering whether we would still be interested in her dog.

Immediately mailed that we were and waited to hear more, on Tuesday evening Rebecca called to say she wanted to meet us.

She said she would call us later that evening but she did not, I mailed her the next day to find out what was happening, and if it was happening.

She mailed me that it was and she would be in touch, did not hear anything all day

then at 19.00 Rebecca called to arrange a meeting.

She suggested we meet at the station at 20.15 and if the dogs were ok with each other we could take him home.

Richie went down to the station to meet Rebecca and Jacky, the dogs got on ok so he came home at 21.00 with our new dog.

He was very excited to be here and started playing with the dog toys like he had never seen any before, it was a sweet sight

Several toys did get destroyed in the process, we decided after seeing him playing happily to rename him Cyril, a new start and a new name.

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